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The end was near. He just knew it. Instincts had always been his forte, they never failed him. His instinct told him that it was about to be over. Once and for all.

He couldn't be happier.

He stood in front of the huge mirror and watched his reflection stare back at him. Aamir Hassan. A man of many layers he was indeed. For his persona was that of a fierce predator, scary and unwelcoming, but his eyes were his weakness. All one had to do was merely gaze through the piercing orbs to unearth all the guilt, the pain and the shame.

His gut told him that today, it would all be buried away, never to be exhumed.

A dreadful past forgotten, a beautiful future awaited.

A painful journey had begun not the day he had been married, but on the day he first gave in to his anger. Progressively, the monster that was his anger had consumed him. He had become a monster himself and all he held dear was about to be torn away from him.

It's not everyday that life hands out second chances. How blessed he felt this day to be the recipient of one. He was truly blessed.

If only this nightmare would turn into the fairytale ending he hoped he could give Mayra. The least he could do was promise her his love and a life full of happiness and comfort whenever sadness struck. Life wouldn't be perfect, but the journey would be worth the ride with her by his side.

He looked down at the promenade where a black bike screeched to a halt. The rider, dressed all in black, got off and with his black helmet on strode to the building that housed Hassan Industries. Smiling to himself, Aamir walked to his desk and picked up the phone. Dialling the intercom he said, "he's here, send him up here. Without security check."

"But boss, he could be armed, he could have a g-"

"I know that he's armed and that he has a gun. Do as I say and let him in. Keep everyone else on stand-by."

"Yes boss!"

He removed his expensive blazer and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, preparing to meet his nemesis head on.

Soon enough the glass door to his cabin banged open and the black rider came barging in. On his way in he pulled a gun that was tucked under the back of his jacket and pointed it straight at Aamir's head. He stopped six feet from Aamir, a daunting figure clad all in black with the black helmet still shielding his face.

Aamir looked back at him unfazed and said in a calm voice, "there'll be no need for that, Jaffar. I called you here to talk not to kill you."

Pulling off his helmet with the other hand, he stalked forward, "But I've come here to kill you, Hassan!"

"In that case," Aamir muttered and reached for his own gun lying on the table. Pointing it at Jaffar he said, "no matter what happens to me today, you won't get out of here alive."

On cue, Aamir's security guards ran inside the room all of them having their weapons drawn.

Throwing a lazy glance around the room, the assailant laughed. "I don't care if I have to die in the process, Hassan, I'll die peacefully knowing that I finished the man who destroyed my life."

"There's a difference between destroying someone's life and protecting the lives of one's own. I did what was necessary to save my family from the damage you inflicted. You're the one who is wrong here."

"SHUT UP! Shut up before I kill you, you bastard!"

Putting his gun down, Aamir merely took his seat behind his desk before saying, " then why don't you just do it? Why waste time Jaffar? Go on, finish it."

Jaffar laughed at that. "Such a man you are, Aamir Hassan! I'll shoot you and instantly your men will shoot me. Yet you want to pretend that you're a saint by putting down your gun! Stand up! Fight me like a man, you filthy animal! Get up!"

Aamir looked directly into Jaffar's bloodshot eyes and signalled his guards to leave. Hesitant, the armed guards eyed one another, unsure of how to leave their boss in the face of imminent death but the determined look on Aamir's face made them slowly back out.

"Now," Aamir began, his voice eerily peaceful, "either shoot me and leave, or sit down and talk."

Jaffar was now genuinely confused. He looked around the room, his gaze shifting quickly to see if there was another plan, a hidden trap set for him to fall into. He couldn't find anything. Agitation was growing in his mind making his heart beat harder and harder in his chest. "What game are you playing with me Hassan?"

Smiling, Aamir gestured to the seat in front of him and said, "see, you too wish to talk. Grab a seat."

"NO!" Jaffar shouted angrily. "Say what you have to. Finish this off!"

"Fine. I'll say what I have to and finish it then you'll have to decide what to do. Jaffar, I'm willing to let you go free, no police complaints and no tip-offs to the men who are after you. In fact, I'm willing to loan you the amount of money that you need to free yourself from this debt-trap. In turn, you leave this country, go away, do whatever the hell you want but you never return to our lives in any way."

"What the hell are you saying Hassan?"

"Jaffar," Aamir said, leaning forward, "I'm offering to help you. I'm trying to give you a way out of your problem. I just - "

"And you think that I'm dumb enough to fall for that! You think I'm stupid enough to -"

"No," Aamir said. "I think you'll be sensible enough to listen to what I have to say and consider it seriously. Not everyone gets a chance like this, a second chance, Jaffar, believe me I know. And no, I'm not being a saint here. There's nothing I would like to do more than to bash your skull on this wall and punch you till you bleed to death but I have my own personal reasons for trying to help you out."

Jaffar pulled a chair across from Aamir and sat down. "What are your personal reasons?"

"And why do I owe you answers? I'm giving you a way out of this impossible situation of yours, take it or leave it!"

Jaffar leaned back in his chair and examined his sworn enemy for a good few seconds before asking, "what if I refuse?"

Aamir cocked an eyebrow. "Then I'm afraid I'll have to hand you over to the police."

Jaffar threw back his head and laughed. "Ah! The saintly Aamir Hassan! You almost had me convinced that you were being an angel a second ago. I should've known that a blackmail was hidden in there somewhere."

"Of course you should've!" Aamir taunted disdainfully. "You make a living out of blackmailing people. You should've known by now that I will take whatever steps necessary to make sure that my family is safe. I want to rid us of you and I'm giving you a golden chance to rid yourself of us. Get a fresh start. Get out of here and don't ever look back. We'll do the same."

"I fail to understand why though? You can get rid of me easily but this was unexpected. Naturally I will have to assume that there this something else hidden in this offer. Say it plainly Hassan. Just say it. Why are you doing this?"

Aamir was growing angrier by the second, "listen here you worthless piece of shit! I owe you nothing! Nothing! Neither the offer nor any explanation. If Mayra hadn't made me promise not to -"

Jaffar sprung to his feet in mad fury making his chair fall back abruptly. "Don't you dare speak of that bitch! That filthy, rotten ..."

Aamir jumped at him and landed a punch square on his jaw. Both men went down, each punching and kicking the other with every ounce of energy they possessed, each blinded by a primal and volcanic rage.

The promise made to Mayra went flying out of his mind as every single memory of pain and torture replayed in his head, all thanks to the man who still had the gall to insult his wife to his face. Not his Mayra. Not again!

Aamir pushed himself off of the ground and stretched his leg to land a kick to Jaffar's side. The man went down with a nasty fall and immediately Aamir was on top of him.

Sounds of bones cracking filled the air followed soon enough by groans and then shouts of pain. The guards came running back in to find their boss, bloody no less, on top of the black rider, punching him with a madness no one had ever seen in him. So unlike their boss was this current scenario that they hesitated a few seconds before pulling him off and holding the other, brutally injured man captive.

"Let go of me! Damn it, let go!" Aamir shouted at his men, his gaze locked on to Jaffar who was barely able to stand anymore and was bleeding profusely from the mouth and nose.

Zaheer, using all of his strength to hold Aamir back yelled, "stop it Aamir! Killing him is not the solution! We have a job to do! Control yourself!"

Zaheer pushed Aamir back into his chair and walked over to Jaffar. He ordered the men to put Jaffar in another chair and himself sat down in front of him.

Signalling the men to leave yet again Zaheer addressed Jaffar for the first time. "We hate you, Asshole. Really, we do. All of us. Aamir and I more than anyone else. But we're here because someone asked us to try to be merciful and vengeful. And no, Moron, that person wasn't Mayra. That person was Aamir's mother, who you should know was your mother's classmate in school."

Jaffar's head shot up in shock and surprise. "You.. you kn..knew my .. m..mother?"

"Aamir's mom knew her. Your mom was from a middle class family and had two brothers and a younger sister. When she was fifteen she met your father and he lured her into eloping with him. Your grandparents and uncles were beyond furious for the elopement meant destruction of the family reputation and no matches ever for your mom's sister. The family would have had them murdered in cases of honour killings but to escape that your parents left town."

Wiping the blood from his nose Jaffar asked, "how do you, how could you know all of this?"

"Unlike you," Zaheer said, giving him a look of pure disgust, "we do a thorough job. Any how, your father wanted to leech out money through your mom but since that door had closed, he started to drink and became abusive. A few years later, after your mother had died he brought you back to this city to raise you to be the filthy animal you are today."

Finally Aamir spoke. "You asked us why we were doing this. We were doing this so that you had the chance to prove to yourself that you are not your father, because so far all you've tried to do is marry rich girls and live off of them just as that Bastard had done. May be we should let you rot like him. May be you don't deserve that chance after all."

Silence descended on the room. The three men sat quiet, unsure of what to say next, unsure of what to do.

Aamir tried to rotate his wrist but as painful as it had become he was sure he had sprained it badly. Zaheer, ever the efficient lawyer, was looking at Jaffar's face carefully, trying to read what the man would do next and readying his mind on how to counter him.

The only man truly lost was Jaffar.

Had he become what he had hated the most in this world? Had he become the monster that his father had been? Was this disease in his blood that he had to turn out to be this way? Had he failed his mother?

His mother!

Twice in his life he had bought innocent women close to the verge of becoming what his mother had become. He used them as carelessly as his father had. He had felt no shame, no remorse doing it! Now when life handed him a brutal reality check in the face of his dead mother, now he understood.

The sickness in his life was not that life had never been easy on him. The sickness in his life was what he had chose to become as a result of a difficult childhood. He could choose to lead a healthy life, with effort and hardwork, but he wanted luxuries and he wanted them fast. He chose the shortcuts. The rights and wrongs didn't matter.

He had almost gotten Mayra killed! He had turned into a murderer!

He wasn't like his father, he was worse! He had failed his mother! He had, in thar moment of wakefulness, truly lost everything!

The shrill ring of Aamir's phone snapped the three of them into reality. Aamir answered with a hoarse 'hello' and Mayra's panicked voice made him hold his breath.

A few seconds later, he hung up and said, "Faiza's being admitted to the hospital. Her blood pressure has shot up dangerously and they don't know if she or the baby will make it. Zaheer, I gotta go!"

Zaheer stood up instantly, "Aamir, just one minute, please wait!"

"I dont have a minute!"

"I know! Look Jaffar!" Zaheer called out to the man who had his head buried in his hands. Slowly when he looked up, Zaheer said, "see the consequences of your actions now? An innocent baby is on the verge of death because of you, because of the stress you have caused Faiza. Look Jaffar, things have gone on enough. Lets end this now, for all our sakes."

Slowly Jaffar nodded and looked at the two men. "Okay. Okay, I accept. What must I do?"

Aamir sighed and grabbed his phone ready to leave. "Zaheer will give you the money, and an air ticket to South Africa. I have contacts in Cape Town, you should be able to get a job there. Don't ever come back and don't ever try to contact us again. Understood?"

Jaffar nodded and even though he wanted to thank Aamir he couldn't speak at all past the lump in throat.

Silently promising himself, and in his heart promising his dead mother to become a good person and not like his father, Jaffar looked at Aamir Hassan's face one last time.

For them all, a new beginning awaited.

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